Unit 13: Scientific Revolution
Jan 01, 2016
Unit 13: Scientific Revolution
1609 Galileo observes heavens through telescope.
1687 Newton publishes law of gravity.
1690 John Locke defines natural rights.
Enlightenment and Revolution, 1550–178922
CHAPTER
Time Line
1550 1789
HOME
1543
Copernicus publishes heliocentric theory.
1628
William Harvey describes heart function.
1748
Montesquieu describes separation of powers.
1762
Catherine the Great rules Russia.
The Roots of Modern Science
The Medieval View Most knowledge in
the Middle Ages came from the Bible and Greek/Roman sources.
Supports geocentric theory—moon, sun, planets revolve around Earth
Why didn’t anyone challenge Aristotle, Ptolemy, & the Church?
During Dark Ages in Europe life was very, very tough (little food, little protection, a lot of disease)
No books to learn from…only the Bible.
Kings didn’t allow for public education…NO KNOWLEDGE.
The Roots of Modern Science
A New Way of Thinking Renaissance prompts new ways of thinking (1300-
1600) Scientific Revolution—new way of viewing the natural
world—based on observation and inquiry New discoveries, overseas exploration open up
thinking Scholars make new developments in astronomy and
mathematics.Questioned Greco-Roman ideasQuestioned Church teachings Use of scientific method and human intellect.
A Revolutionary Model of the Universe
The Heliocentric Theory Widely accepted geocentric
theory challenged as inaccurate
Copernicus develops the heliocentric theory—planets revolve around the sun
Later scientists mathematically prove Copernicus to be correctNicolaus
Copernicus
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
Believed in Copernicus’s idea, but he also believed that the planets move in ellipses, or oval paths.
A Revolutionary Model of the Universe
Galileo’s Discoveries Italian scientist Galileo
Galilei makes key advances in astronomy.
He makes discovery about planet surfaces using telescope
Supports heliocentric theory 4 moons of Jupiter (Jupiter
has 8 moons) Sun spots Catholic clergy members forced
him to recant his findings under threat of excommunication and torture
Church officials placed Galileo under house arrest for the rest of his life in an attempt to silence him
Galileo Galilei
Isaac Newton
Used math to prove the ideas of Copernicus and Galileo
Called the force gravity, or that all objects fall towards Earth
Said all of nature follows laws.
Motion in space and earth linked by the law of universal gravitation—holds that every object is universe attracts every other object
Newton views the universe as a vast, perfect mechanical clock.
The Scientific Method
A Logical Approach Revolution in thinking leads to development of
scientific method—a series of steps for forming and testing scientific theories
Bacon and Descartes Thinkers Bacon and Descartes help to create
scientific method Bacon urges scientists to experiment before
drawing conclusions Descartes advocates using logic and math to
reason out basic truths
The Scientific Method
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) René Descartes (1595-1650)
The Triumph of Reason
Rene Descartes is the founder of modern rationalism. This is the belief that reason is the chief source of knowledge.
To Descartes, one fact seemed to be beyond doubt—his own existence.
Descartes clarified this idea by the phrase, “I think, therefore I am” or “Cogito ergo sum.”
Francis Bacon and the Scientific Method
Sir Francis Bacon
What Does it all Mean?
A. Like the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation, the Scientific Revolution saw the proposal of many new ideas and techniques that challenged traditional thinking
B. This set the stage for the Enlightenment, a political movement of the 1600s and 1700s which involved political theorists questioning
traditional beliefs about government